conversation XXXIV

Vanessa Billy (*1978, CH/GB, lives and works in Zurich) in conversation
with Ben Woodard (philosopher and writer, lives and works in Ontario, Canada)

natural abstraction

The conceptual implications of material
processes are paramount to Vanessa Billy's practice. Extraction of raw
materials to energy consumption and the immutable waste products that
result from it, the horror or the beauty of these chain reactions we do not all
control exert a strong fascination for her. In comparison to that Ben Woodard’s
thinking focuses among other things on speculative realism and its impact on
our understanding of (physical) science or nature. Within the talk the artist
and the philosopher not only discuss the differences between empirical evidence
and speculation but also the natural status of the image between art and
philosophy.